Bharti Airtel Starts First Payments Bank Service in Rajasthan

Airtel Payments Bank Ltd (Airtel Bank), a subsidiary of the country’s largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel, started its first pilot banking services in Rajasthan from November 23, 2016.

Aim:  The banking service is aimed at testing systems and processes before a full scale pan Indian is launched.

• According to the pilot service Airtel Payments Bank will provide basic banking services along with the facility to open bank accounts at Airtel retail outlets.
• Customers in towns and villages of Rajasthan will now be able to open bank accounts at Airtel retail outlets, which will also act as Airtel banking centers and offer a wide range of basic, convenient banking services.

Features of the Pilot Payment Banking Service.

Any user can open an account with Aadhaar based paperless e-KYC without the requirement of any extra documents simply at any airtel retail outlet . Customer’s Airtel mobile number would be his/her bank account number.

• The company will give an interest rate of 7.25% per annum on deposits in savings accounts. 
• The customers will get a personal accidental insurance of Rs. 1 lakh with every savings account.The users have the convenience to transfer money to any bank accounts in India.
• Airtel Bank does not offer ATM/Debit Card facility, at present. Customers can deposit withdraw cash at any of the designated Airtel retail outlets.
• Customers can check their account balance, access other services using Airtel Money app, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) or Interactive voice response over their mobile phones.
• Customers can access money transfer services using the Airtel Money app or through USSD by dialing *400#.Money transfers from one Airtel number to another Airtel number within the bank will be free
• Initially the Airtel Bank will test the pilot services at 10,000 Airtel retail outlets. However it plans to expand its merchant network in Rajasthan to 100,000 by the end of the year, giving a big boost to digital payments ecosystem.

Vasundhara Raje, Chief Minister of Rajasthan appreciated the initiative which inclines with the Prime Minister’s vision for financial inclusion and Digital India, and will be a boon to residents in far flung areas who are yet to have access to formal banking.

Airtel Bank :

Airtel Bank got payments bank license from RBI on April 11, 2016. It became the first entity in India to receive a payments bank license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

• Airtel Bank’s product portfolio includes payment banking services and semi-closed mobile wallet services (Airtel Money).
• Shashi Arora, MD & CEO, Airtel Payments Bank, said Airtel Payments Bank is fully committed to the Government’s vision of financial inclusion and banking for all.
• Airtel Payments Bank will play an important role in taking banking services to the last mile in a quick and efficient manner and benefit millions of citizens who do not have access to bank of this country.
• This pilot project is a big step towards the launch of the banking services and will be test the operational readiness of the bank for full-scale launch across India.